GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

04-03-2005, 11:38 AM

In article ,
lid (Rodger Whitlock) writes:
| I was shocked and horrified to read Nick McLaren's diatribes against
| pumpkin pie. He obviously has never had good pumpkin pie. Or else he
| was frightened by a rabid pumpkin as a small lad.

I certainly agree that I have never had good pumpkin pie. I can't
remember eating much pumpkin as a small lad, but I can't think why
not as the climate was ideal for growing them.

| To set the record straight, here's *my* recipe for pumpkin pie:

Thanks for your recipe, but I really don't like the taste of
sweetened pumpkin - like several other posters, I find it very
sickly.

| Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
| his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
| much work, when you consider that high quality canned pumpkin is
| available everywhere for next to nothing. It's a real bargain food.

Boggle. It is virtually no work at all if you cook the pumpkin
first, and not really all that much if you don't. Even slicing
it with a knife (see below) isn't all that difficult.

| Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

As far as I know, it is one of the few remaining ways in which UK
supermarkets do not force an inferior version of USA practice on
us. I believe that it was attempted.

| These days, such delights as pie crust are verboten for health
| reasons, so I mix the filling and bake it with no crust -- a sort-of
| baked pumpkin custard.

I am sorry to hear that.

| Any urgler travelling to these parts is kindly invited to partake of
| these delectable dishes, but please give me a little advance warning
| before you show up -- a few hours is all that's required.

Thank you.

In case anyone is interested, here is my recipe for pumpkin
soup, which can also use hubbard-type squashes and even marrow
if you increase the quantity of chilli - please note its
old-fashioned flavour, in that I give no quantities:

Fry some onions, sliced as rings until they start to soften
Add a good quantity of sliced pumpkin, carrot and potato if
wished, and continue to fry gently
Add some good ham or bacon stock, not too salty, to make it
the consistency you want
Add some tins of chopped tomatoes; fresh tomatoes would be
better, in season, but don't bother otherwise
Put in some thyme, bay leaves, freshly ground black pepper,
mustard seed, and well-flavoured hot chillis, to taste
Simmer until melded and the vegetables are soft

Most people would want to deseed the chillis, but I don't.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.